Letter to the editor: Don't let 'catch and kill' be our norm

“Catch and Kill Bill” is not the title of a new movie sequel. It’s a phrase I made up to illustrate a few bad practices in our society today.

“Catch and kill” is a real practice known to our media world and is becoming more common in our nontransparent or disguised times, even in some public meetings overseen by corrupt or incompetent board members and solicitors.

The phrase “catch and kill” is when a story is publicly reported without any follow-up, or essentially allowing the passing of time to create a regretful cover-up. The term “bill” can mean “a draft of a proposed law presented for discussion.”

We may already know these few phrases: “There are two things we don’t want to see being made, sausage and laws” and “Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.” So let’s not “ get fooled again” and protect ourselves and our families from any “Catch and Kill Bill,” like another failed bill on mandatory testing for radon in our schools or a solicitor’s claim that a good faith and due diligence search was conducted.

Please remember, we are what we do, we have a right to know and we have an obligation to care for what is right, just, equitable, ethical and fair.

Thank you to our excellent Pennsylvania Ethics Commission for leading the way.

Dennis Smiddle

Canonsburg